African member states have issued an urgent call for the restoration of global malaria funding at the 79th World Health Assembly (WHA) in Geneva, warning that 18 months of drastic aid cuts, led by the United States, are reversing decades of hard-won progress on the continent.
Nigeria, speaking on behalf of African states, told the assembly that the WHO’s malaria elimination initiative known as E-2025, which focused on supporting 25 countries with the potential to eliminate malaria by 2025, has not been funded since 2024.
The African bloc formally requested the assembly to restore financing for malaria elimination, including the E-2025 initiative, and accelerate the roll out of the RTS,S (Mosquirix) and R21 (Matrix-M) vaccines.
The appeal comes at a critical juncture. Around 95% of global malaria cases are in Africa, and Nigeria is the worst-affected country in the world, accounting for almost a quarter of the world’s malaria cases and a third of all deaths.
The scale of the funding collapse is stark. Between 2010 and 2023, the US contributed around 37% of global malaria financing. The US government, through its proposed fiscal year 2026 budget, plans a further 62% cut to funding for global health programmes, including a 45% cut to the President’s Malaria Initiative.
The consequences are already tangible on the ground. By early April 2025, more than 40% of planned distribution of insecticide-treated nets, the cornerstone of malaria prevention were delayed. Nearly 30% of seasonal malaria chemo-prevention campaigns to protect 58 million children were also off track.
Nigeria’s address to the assembly was pointed. “Our region still carries 95% of the global malaria burden. Ten countries account for 80% of zero-dose children. We hold 17% of the world’s 30 high-burden TB countries. Our frameworks are sound. What is missing is the financing, the integration, and the accountability to match them.
Angola told the WHA that malaria is one of its leading causes of morbidity and mortality, with efforts hampered by both climate-related vulnerabilities and declining external financing.
Not all the news from the assembly was grim. Cabo Verde became the first sub-Saharan African country in 50 years to be certified malaria-free, a milestone that underscores what sustained investment can achieve, and what its absence now threatens elsewhere on the continent.
Nigeria acknowledged the gains made across the region, noting that 23 African countries have eliminated at least one neglected tropical disease and that vaccination averted 1.9 million deaths in 2024. But those gains, it warned, are fragile and are directly dependent on the financing now being withdrawn.
The broader picture is one of a continent bearing a disproportionate burden while watching the international architecture that was meant to address it erode. Africa is home to 95% of the world’s malaria deaths, and with the US, UK, Germany, and other governments cutting assistance, the disease is already surging in parts of the continent.
What African states are asking for is not charity. It is a restoration of commitments already made and a recognition that the cost of inaction will be measured in lives lost, not in the numerous budget items listed.
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